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Jewish Theology as a Science in the Context of Post-Shoah Germany
Author(s): Fehige, Yiftach
Date: 2026
Topics: Main Topic: Other, Jewish Studies, Universities / Higher Education, Religion, Religion and State, Theology
Abstract: This paper analyses the contested institutionalization of Jewish theology in contemporary Germany, focusing on the founding and crisis of the School of Jewish Theology at the University of Potsdam. It situates this within broader debates over theology's scientific status and the conditions under which it gains institutional legitimacy in secular, democratic societies. Following Paul Feyerabend's call to contextualize science historically and sociologically, the paper challenges essentialist accounts of science and religion. It argues that academic Jewish theology must be understood within Germany's shifting social system of public knowledge—shaped by political culture, communal authority, and contested epistemic norms—contributing to debates about pluralism, religious authority, and theology's role in the modern university.